23. Plodding On: The View from Indianapolis

You may have missed this if you have been averting your eyes, plugging your ears, and humming: now it's Rudolfo Fernandez who has been stopped and chopped...

Yes, Our Rudy is now officially sidelined for "4 to 6 weeks" following surgery to alleviate an impingement of a nerve in his back that has been causing him chronic pain in his right leg.

Drama Queen Jason Quick cites one of those ever-reliable Spanish agents in attributing the origins of this injury to the attempted block by LA Laker Trevor Ariza that put Rudy in the hospital on March 9, 2009. This lingering hurt was said to have been "aggravated" last week in practice when Rudy was elbowed in the back coming off a pick, according to Quick. Quick quotes Acting Head Coach Dean Demopoulos as saying that Rudy would miss at least 17 games during his recuperation period.

Everything that monkey writes from here on out gets at least a 40% discount from me, but still...

Yikes.

The Portland Trail Blazers have come to resemble a really bad reality TV show — let's call it LAST MAN STANDING... It has everything a viewer could want: action, drama, catty squabbling among the participants. All to answer the big question: Who will be the last functional player of the 15 contestants who started the season? And who will be the next to fall? "Tune in next week and find out who's next to leave the locker room..."

The injury situation has become so bad that overnight there has been an almost metaphysical transformation of quantity into quality. This last surgery has moved the Blazers and all their disabled veterans from the realm of catastrophe to that of black comedy. Gallows humor is now en vogue...  So let's just have some fun with it, shall we? Tell me: Who's next? There's a poll at the very bottom of this column. Vote now!

Get this: Portland is 28% of the way through the NBA season and already 40% of the Blazers' 15-man roster has had surgery resulting in the loss of the player for a month or more. This means it is time for me to whip out the calculator to generate some numbers for my mathophilic pals, part of my new regular feature, the Silly Surgery Schedule.

Hmmmmm, lessee here, you multiply this by that and divide by the other thing to generate an Average Surgery Rate (ASR) and................. it appears that each and every member of the PTB can be expected to have 1.43 surgeries requiring a recovery of more than a month by the end of the season, if current trends continue.

Of course, that's sort of defective math, the truly ADVANCED stats would factor out the players lost for the year (the Seasonal Player Loss Rate stands at 33.3% of those injured) and make use of the ongoing Average Surgery Rate against a declining pool of players to generate an Adjusted Average Surgery Rate (AASR).

Bear in mind, this figure is exclusive of coaches and owners.  Sarge's blown achilles is an official practice wound and needs to be factored in as well. So the Adjusted Average Surgery Rate actually needs to be further modified to include coaching injuries, thus producing a metric known as the Universal Adjusted Average Surgery Rate (UAASR). 

I think that outlines the equation correctly, does it not? Feel free to have at the math problem, stat geeks... It's more thought than I want to invest in a dark joke this evening...

I think it's safe to say that the UAASR being experienced by the Blazers this year would be devastating for an NFL team, let alone for a franchise in the rather less violent NBA. With just a little research we might be able to cement the Blazers' place in the record books for achieving the highest UAASR in the entire history of the NBA... 

All joking aside, please join me in drinking a toast sometime today to the continued health and safety of our 9 brave Blazer survivors... In fact, if you drink one toast to each functional survivor, you might end up forgetting how crappy this team's situation actually is...

Original recipe creation by jstbeachy, recalled by the factory for reasons of karma... 

While we're on the subject of back injuries...

And before I forget: Happy Birthday, Dick Bavetta — 70 years old today.

Don't believe me? Check out his Wikipedia biography...

It boggles the mind how a man old enough to be Brandon Roy's grandfather (DB born 1939, Brandon born 1984) can make it up and down the court without substitution night after night. And this at a time when most of his peers are more concerned with saving 15% at Porky's All-You-Can-Eat Buffet and living in fear of falling down and breaking a hip.

Whether you like Bavetta as a ref or not, it's an amazing accomplishment.

Channel Surfing.

Tuesday, Dec. 8.

Phoenix Suns (15-6) at Dallas Mavericks (14-7).

One thing bears mention again: the purported sellout string for the Dallas Mavericks is a pile of puppy poop. Mass numbers of empty seats. If Cuban and the Mavs say they're selling the building out, they're lying.

And another thing: what's with all the Phoenix Suns TV feeds on League Pass Broadband? Home or away, we're stuck with those guys. Ugh.

This game played even through the better part of 3 Quarters, before the Suns went cold and Dallas kicked it into gear, closing the 3rd frame on a 13-4 run and a 7 point lead.

Josh Howard made his first appearance after missing 13 games with an ankle injury. His return was welcomed. Howard went crazy in the 4th Quarter, scoring 9 points in a row for the Mavs and finishing with 20 off the bench.

The Mavs fell in love with jumpshots, predictably, and started to miss, predictably. Nash hit a big 3 with less than a minute remaining to pull Phoenix within 3 points. But Dallas ran clock and the other superannuated PG, Jason Kidd, answered with a wide-open long 2 at the other end of the court at the 26 second mark. Bye-bye, Phoenix! The Suns played Foul Ball as well as it could be played, but not enough time.

Dirk was game-high with 33 points for Dallas, Steve Nash had 27 for the Suns in the losing effort.

Finally, let's hear it once again for squeezably soft Charmin Frye, who once again started at "Center" for the Suns. He logged over 30 minutes of playing time and finished with 2 points on 1-for-7 shooting. He is who we thought he was, I reiterate. Mavericks 102, Suns 101.

New Jersey Nets (1-19) at Chicago Bulls (7-11).

I don't ordinarily concern myself with Eastern Conference games, but this outstandingly hilarious result forced me to pay another visit to (-1) x Disneyland = Blog-a-Bull (corporate motto: The Angriest Place on Earth™®). Take it away, Blog-a-Bullies!!!

Open Game Thread #19: Bulls vs New Jersey Nets

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Dec 8, 2009 5:00 PM PST

Can't lose this, right?

Oh Jesus Brad Miller in the starting lineup

by Khalid El-Amin on Dec 8, 2009 5:09 PM PST

I hate this game already

by Khalid El-Amin on Dec 8, 2009 5:09 PM PST

I like Brad as a starter

by SoulEater7 on Dec 8, 2009 5:16 PM PST

never mind

by SoulEater7 on Dec 8, 2009 5:16 PM PST

ehhhh

by SoulEater7 on Dec 8, 2009 5:16 PM PST

he sucks

by SoulEater7 on Dec 8, 2009 5:17 PM PST

I have concluded, this team as it is now is one of the worst in the league

by Mr Rhythm on Dec 8, 2009 5:31 PM PST

You know I don't think "thin" and "weak bench" capture what a horrible team Bulls management put together

Other teams have some young guys on the bench that might turn into something. The Bulls apparently prefer veterans that can't play. Letting Gordon go, a bad draft, and no decent FAs have eviscerated the talent level on the team.

by hitlesswonder on Dec 8, 2009 5:39 PM PST

Bulls losing by 7 to the worst team in the league on their home court. Fire VDN.

by fundamentallysound on Dec 8, 2009 5:41 PM PST

Watching Deng and Salmons play the same role horribly
is painful...Rose and Noah really need to play with better players. Deng is good but ugh, he just irks me sometimes. The Bulls really need a true SG because Salmons is lit up every night by the opposing 2 guard. * * *

by Playboy_Bull on Dec 8, 2009 5:58 PM PST

They are the two least dynamic wing players in the league
no 3 pt shooting, no athleticism, no passing — bleh

by Basketball Smurf on Dec 8, 2009 5:59 PM PST

9 min into the third and they only have 10 points, pathetic

by chi_till_eye_die on Dec 8, 2009 6:44 PM PST

 

3rd quarter of last 2 games:
Tor 23, Chi 14. Cle 29, Chi 14.

by mike085 on Dec 8, 2009 6:46 PM PST

i dont know why, but a part of me wants them to lose, maybe my wish is to see a coaching change

by chi_till_eye_die on Dec 8, 2009 6:50 PM PST

Bulls can't get a defensive stop to save their life!

by RogersPark Kris on Dec 8, 2009 7:17 PM PST

If Rose has to play like this every night in order for us to have a chance of winning...
Then he's gonna be WORN OUT midseason

by D-WadeChicago on Dec 8, 2009 7:29 PM PST

THE BALL ENTERED THE GRAVITATIONAL FORCE OF JOHN SALMONS
AND TRY AS IT MIGHT IT COULD NOT ESCAPE

by Prevenge on Dec 8, 2009 7:31 PM PST

Salmons.... even if that goes in, WTF are you doing?
best-case scenario they have 7 seconds to run a play for the tie or win

by Daniel Satan on Dec 8, 2009 7:31 PM PST

A rushed 3 with 7 seconds left on the clock?
You're [obscene emphatic] kidding me!

by RogersPark Kris on Dec 8, 2009 7:32 PM PST

We just lost to the Nets..........We suck!

by Mr Rhythm on Dec 8, 2009 7:35 PM PST

Thanks, guys!  Nets 103, Bulls 101.

Wednesday, Dec. 9.

Utah Jazz (12-8) at Los Angeles Lakers (16-3).

Wednesday's main feature pitted the rollin' Utah Jazz paying a visit to La-La Land to take on "The Best Team in the Universe," Your Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe & Ko. were going for their 10th win in a row, season-high for the NBA this year. It promised to be a closely fought and exciting affair.

Jazz feel behind  — ha ha, FELL behind — early but fought back, finishing the 1st Quarter tied. They pulled out to a lead in the 2nd Quarter, heading to the locker room up by 4. In the 3rd Quarter, they gave every indication that they were for real, hustling for loose balls, stepping up the defense and grabbing consecutive Laker misses, and picking the Lakers' pockets... The Jazz still lead by half a dozen points midway through the period and the delicious aroma of a savory upset on the road against the best team in the NBA began to fill the nostrils of Deron Williams and his mates.

Then in the 4th Quarter, the bottom dropped out of Utah's speculative bubble — a 27-2 Laker run. By way of contrast, the Blazers' 2000 WCF 4th Quarter Collapse That Will Live in Infamy™® was fueled by a run of just 25-4. That gives ya some idea how bad this evening was was for poor old grouch Jerry Sloan's ticker...

"You know, you could almost write this script... every time we come to town," lamented the Jazz play-by-play man midway through the 4th Quarter meltdown. The Lakers cranked up the defense, the Jazz "lost the rhythm" (hey, don't blame me, it was their pun!) and couldn't score a bucket — clean look jumper, drive, or bunny. Jazz were 0-for-12 from the field until D-Will finally rattled one down at the 4:34 mark.

From what had been a tightly-fought game emerged yet another Laker blowout of prestigious proportions. Kobe finished with 27, Pau with 19, Ron Ron 16, Drew 14, Ear Jordan 11 off the bench. Derek Fisher, the only starting Point Guard in the NBA less talented than Steve Blake, ended the night with 0 points and 1 assist in over 18 minutes of action. No worries, no matter. Lakers 101, Jazz 77. Ouch.

By the way, this is how you run a 4-on-2 break...

Portland Trail Blazers (13-9) at Indiana Pacers (6-12).

This game represented the closest thing to a "must win" imaginable for the injury-racked Blazers, their confidence shaken as they teetered on the precipice. The Indiana Pacers are the second-worst team in the worst conference in basketball, after all, losers of 5 straight games and 9 of their last 10. To top it off, the Pacers were missing their All-Star and leading scorer, Danny Granger, out until January with a foot injury.

Getting beat by a team featuring Raptors castoff T.J. Ford, Nuggets castoff Dahntay Jones, a dinged Mike Dunleavy, and the non-entities Troy Murphy and Jeff Foster? That's not what you want to be doing heading into a Friday matchup with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers...

This game never felt like it was in doubt despite the Pacers' gritty effort to keep it close. There are some games like that — you just get that feel from the opening minutes that Portland is NOT going to lose. And they didn't.

Most important moment for me was in the 4th Quarter, with Brandon carrying the ball up the floor and clearly feeling it. As he crossed the time line, Andre Miller came over to take the ball from Roy — as pass-oriented PGs want to do. Brandon continued his dribble and without missing a beat gave Dre a momentary glare that had him scurrying for the corner to "Play the Portland," as Nic Batum memorably calls it. Roy drove the lane and scored it, as you KNEW he was gonna do before he ever did it.

A couple plays later, Roy took a little breather and Andre did his thing, scoring himself. All was right with the world. These two will eventually figure out how to play together — sooner if the binkie gets put away.

Speaking of which:

Blake: Nearly 39 minutes, 6 points. 

Miller: Just 25 minutes, 15 points.

Just sayin'..........

Well, that's about all I've got regarding this one.

Now let's fire up the good old Popcorn Machine GAME FLOW SUMMARY, shall we? (Give that link a quick click if you'd be so kind...)

Observation 1: After a 13-2 Portland run in the 1st Quarter, this game was more or less in control of the Blazers. Sure, they've blown leads before, and sure, the Pacers did get it back to even in the 4th Quarter — but still, this was the Blazers' night all the way.

Observation 2: Rex played the entire 2nd Quarter, scoring 5 points. I don't recall him ever having played a full quarter before. Maybe I'm forgetting... He looked okay tonight. Not good, just okay.

Observation 3: Acting Head Coach Demopoulos pulled Marty for the entire 4th Quarter, running Andre, Blake, and Roy. It seemed like an effective lineup, with Portland going +9 for the period.

Well, that's enough of all that stuff and nonsense. Now let's get serious. Please put on your most comfortable pair of pants and join me in watching the latest installment of THE GREATEST THING IN THE WORLD:

This being a full-service blab-a-thon, here's Wednesday's edition from Skeets & Melas, just in case you missed it...

Which brings us to the real point of this exercise, a little taste of the news and ranting from the journalists and internet-types of the Indiana blogoverse...

(1)

Pacers See What's Missing: Go-to Guy: Blazers' Roy takes over late; no Pacer steps up

by Mike Wells, Indianapolis Star

The difference in yet another loss for the Indiana Pacers was in personnel.

As the Pacers' second unit outplayed the starters to help them hang around, the lone All-Star on the court ended up being the difference-maker.

Portland Trail Blazers All-Star guard Brandon Roy scored 10 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter to help his team hold off the pesky Pacers 102-91 on Wednesday night at Conseco Fieldhouse.

"When we tied up the basketball game, Brandon Roy really took over the game," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien said. "That's his usual performance down the stretch. We had difficulty stopping him late in the game and (LaMarcus) Aldridge had it going early in the game." * * *

(2)

Starters Continue To Get Outplayed, Outscored During Losing Streak

by S.P. Stevenson, Indy Cornrows (SBN)

hey are the players that set the tone. From start to finish, the players who get their names called under the bright lights and rip off their warm-ups first are there for a reason. To compete and get the team off to a good start.

For the Indiana Pacers, the starting lineup is not getting the job done.

In the six-game losing streak, which increased last night after a 102-91 loss to the Blazers, the starters have been outscored 443-314, an average deficit of 21.5 per game.... * * *

(3)

Blazers 102, Pacers 91: Pacers Can't Answer Brandon Roy At Winning Time

by Tom Lewis, Indy Cornrows (SBN)

The future for the Indiana Pacers looked bright on Wednesday night. The present? Not so much.

LaMarcus Aldridge opened the game with 10-straight points, putting the Portland Trail Blazers up 10-6 early. The Pacers fought from behind the rest of the way, even tied the score at 83-83 midway through the fourth quarter, before Brandon Roy took control, allowing the Blazers to cruise home to a win, 102-91.

Maybe it was the low expectations heading into the game, but I can't get too exercised over the Pacers letting this game go down the stretch in their first outing without Danny Granger. Part of that is the play of A.J. Price and Tyler Hansbrough, but more on that later.

I just can't complain about the effort from the Pacers. Yes, they shot poorly (41.3%) but they scrapped for extra possessions grabbing 15 offensive rebounds. The ball and player movement was far more consistent than it has been and resulted in a number of easy buckets around the rim which was a pleasure to watch. * * *

(4)

Game #19 Preview: Answering Some Questions

by Jared Wade, 8 Points 9 Seconds (TrueHoop)

[Dec. 9] We now know that Danny Granger is going to miss up to 6 weeks with his foot issue and perhaps be well below 100% for even longer. The season is, in short, not looking good.

Still, regardless of whether or not the Granger/MDJ-led Pacers were able to eek out an 8th seed just to lose to the Celtics, Cavs or Magic in the playoffs, the main purpose of this season is — and has been — to evaluate the players who may be still be with the franchise two years from now when, you know, the squad will hopefully once again be a relevant NBA team. The Larry Bird brain trust needs to figure out what exactly they have here. Is there some real talent here or not?

So, in some ways (watch as I desperately grasp at this straw) this injury will help speed up the talent evaluation process. The young guys will have to play more simply out of necessity and this trial by fire will theoretically help the front office see what the young players are capable of. Will anyone step up to handle some of the scoring load? Will anyone do anything of note with these extra minutes? * * *

(5)

Passive Aggression

posted by "Miller4Ever" to Real GM Pacers message board

I want to slap TJ Ford on one possession and then pat his back on another. Too bad I want to slap him more.

Dahntay? Not so good in the 4th quarter, and he seems to always have 4 or 5 fouls by that time.

Rush is the answer. Dunleavy. Just let them shoot it, and get Hansbrough in there for the boards.

(6)

Another Coach Hater

posted by Reginald Wayne to Real GM Pacers message board

Good effort. But in the 4th we didn't hit the shots that they were hitting. Example: Head missing wide open 3, then Blake hit a wide open 3 on ensuing possession. That, and we don't have an explosive player like Roy to takeover a game.

I want to see AJ Price a bit more. Bench Ford and play the rook. O'brien you suck.

The Bottom Line:

1. Injuries, smingeries. You guys really didn't think this bunch were going to beat you without Danny Granger, did you?

2. We've got hope for the future. For the present? Not so much...

Now time for one more really comical video (showing you how NOT to run a 1-on-0 fast break!) and a dumb poll...